Puglia Road Trip – Part 2

Castel del Monte

On our way to our next destination we went via Lucera, another pretty Puglian town which was once a prosperous Roman centre dating back to the 4th century BC. It’ s home to the Swabian-Angevin Fortress. This 13th century reinforced fort is huge! It’s pentagonal walls measure 1km in circumference and are interspersed with 24 towers! Sitting on the highest point for miles around it’s sheer size is tantamount to how powerful this fascinating town used to be. Unfortunately, like most lesser known Italian historical sites it isn’t particularly well maintained, but for a very small fee you can go inside and up one of the towers to really appreciate the size of this settlement. The castle was built by Frederick II, who after being excommunicated by the Pope in the thirteenth century, decided to boost his supporters by importing 20,000 Sicilian Arabs to Lucera, a bold move by the Christian monarch as he allowed them to build mosques and practice their religion less than 300km away from Rome. Their prosperity was short lived however, as in 1300 Charles II killed most of the Muslim population and built the Duomo on the site of their largest mosque. Lucera itself has a lovely old town centre, with sand coloured buildings and smooth flagstones underfoot, worn from centuries of use. It’s a town with such a fascinating history but so far removed from the tourist trail that it was a delight to visit.

Our home for the next two nights was Agriturismo Sei Carri, near to Castel del Monte. This restaurant was tucked away at the end of a track and also offered camping spaces with electricity and a lovely view of the castle itself perched on top of it’s hill. Castel del Monte is a geometric, otherworldly looking structure perched atop a hill which radiates an omnipresence for miles around. This UNESCO World heritage site is shrouded in mystery due to the fact that no one knows why Frederick II built this perfectly octagonal structure; no one has ever lived in it, it’s in the middle of nowhere miles from any towns or settlements and has no defensive characteristics one would expect from a 13th century castle. But striking it is! We spent our first afternoon there walking from the campsite, across the fields, through the trees and up the hill to the castle itself. Due to our chosen route we managed to avoid the crowds until we were up at the top, where they’d swarmed to see this beautiful structure. We walked back via the road where we came across a pack of stray dogs, who after their initial barking, luckily didn’t seem too fussed by us. That night, the view through the mozzie net was of the twinkling lights of Trani far below at the coast and the castle all lit up atop it’s perch, even more mysterious and intriguing in the darkness.

We were treated to another wonderful sun rise where the bright orange ball slowly crept up over the horizon alongside the castle, painting the sky with such gorgeous hues. We’d decided to go for a bike ride that day, so wanted to leave early. The plan was to hit the road for seven o’clock so we could get back for our lunch reservation at half past one. We set off in the cool morning air down the track to the main road. The memory of the pack of dogs soon came back to me and I realised we had to cross their path, however, as they seemed quite calm whilst we were on foot the previous day I wasn’t too concerned………..but that soon changed! They saw us approaching and despite our coaxing and gentle words promising not to hurt them they decided to take umbrage with our bikes. Mr BND was slightly ahead so ran the gauntlet first, like a pack of hyenas they preyed on the weakest at the back and before I knew it I was pedalling as fast as I’ve ever pedalled with snarling, snapping teeth right on by back wheel, my husband’s shouts of ‘pedal faster!’ being drowned out by the animals and the blood pumping in my ears. My plaintive cries soon turned in to aggressive shouts which had absolutely no effect whatsoever and finally they gave up the chase and all that was left was the sound of our hugely increased breathing! I think it was the most harrowing experience ever. We spent the rest of the ride flinching at every stray dog we came across, preparing to put our sprint technique to the test, but all the others didn’t bat an eyelid. Talk about unusual training methods!

Our route took us through Parco Nazionale dell’Alta Murgia which wasn’t quite what we were expecting. It was a vast, arid landscape with hardly any towns or villages, little shelter and moor-like countryside. Whilst being quite striking and pretty in it’s own right it had a lunar atmosphere to it and wasn’t really conducive to a 65 mile bike ride in the heat. Particularly on the way back when we had a 5 mile climb to contend with and hardly any water left! We did visit two gorgeous towns though, the other side of the National Park, Altamura and Gravina in Puglia; the former is famous in Puglia for it’s bread and the latter has a higgledy, piggledy historical centre beside a gorge which is bridged by an ancient aqueduct. Both towns were a welcome relief to an otherwise quiet and remote ride.

Of course we also had the dogs to contend with on our inbound journey. But we had a plan of action! We’d decided we’d go up to the castle, where Mr BND would go off piste and ride the downhill gravel tracks we walked the previous day to circumvent the dogs, pick up the van and meet me (a strictly tarmac lover) at the end of the road to ensure my safe return. A plan which was not executed as well as it was conjured up. The inevitable puncture occurred and then on his return to the campsite, (whilst I’m waiting at the end of the road like a preying mantis ready to leg it out of there at the first sign of our canine foes) we realise I have the van keys! I really thought this day couldn’t have gone any worse. So I hide my bike and begin the walk down the road armed with a stick (like that would do any good), finally though, our luck turns and a car pulled off the main road which I flagged down and in very garbled ‘Englitalian’ try and convey my sticky situation to the four bewildered faces peering back at me. I think they got the gist, so I clambered in to the back seat, me a sweaty, crazed mess; them, beautifully dressed up for their lunch out! As we’re travelling down the road through the dogs territory whilst I’m trying to convey how ferocious they are, there isn’t a tail or nose in sight! So we could have cycled down after all! We were only 45 minutes late for our lunch reservation in the end and having given our table away, in the true hospitable Italain fashion they made nothing of it and we tucked in to a proper, authentic Puglian lunch where the food kept coming and the wine kept flowing. Finally things were on the up! That was quite enough adventure for one day, so we relaxed by the van where the lazy afternoon turned into evening and as the hubbub of other diners dissipated (hours after their arrival…lunch is a serious affair here!) we were left alone in the camping area with the view of the castle and the tinkling of the sheep and goat bells as the old farmer drove them back across the fields in front of us. An early night was in order as we discussed our destination for the next leg of our trip……………